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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25072819">Blossom</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mossflower_17/pseuds/Mossflower_17'>Mossflower_17</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Flesh and Stone Mini-Fics [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Erebor, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Thorin Oakenshield/Original Female Character - Freeform, Thorin/OFC - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 02:48:31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,380</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25072819</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mossflower_17/pseuds/Mossflower_17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Thorin and Ithilrian share a moment beneath the trees. </p>
<p>Or, an extra scene I couldn't find time to work into my long fic (Flesh and Stone), so here it is... only a few years too late!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Thorin Oakenshield/Original Female Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Flesh and Stone Mini-Fics [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1815850</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Blossom</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The bright, warm sun of late spring drifted over the Lonely Mountain, filling the Erebor valley with a rich, golden glow. Among the blossoming trees, all manner of songbirds were already singing their little hearts out, heralding the quickening dawn.</p>
<p>Beneath these trees, Lady Ithilrian of Erebor was walking, barefoot and clad in a simple white gown. Her long pale hair was unbound, and she had discarded the heavy crown of Queenship she’d become accustomed to, settling instead for a simple silver circlet. These warm dawn mornings had become something of a refuge for the Queen of Erebor, away from the hustle and bustle that the day would surely bring.</p>
<p>For as the years had passed by beneath the Lonely Mountain, Ithilrian had found herself becoming weary. Life underground might be natural for a dwarf, or a hobbit; but not so for one of the Noldor. All too often Ithilrian found herself longing for the song of the wind in the trees, the colours of a summer meadow, and the bright arc of birds across an open sky. That was why she had come: to escape the darkness of cold stone and firelight, if only for a little while. Besides, this morning in particular was special. She had an appointment.</p>
<p>She pressed further into the orchard. The grass felt soft beneath her feet, lush and green and flecked with drifts of tiny white petals. She was making her way to the heart of the small plot of fruit trees she had helped plant so long ago; trees that had flourished and bloomed. It did her heart good to see such life in a place that was once so bare and barren. She paused at the foot of a gnarled apple tree, its branches so heavy with pale blossoms that the sheer weight of them seemed to be pulling the boughs down, forming a living canopy of flowers.</p>
<p>‘Ithilrian.’</p>
<p>Warmth blossomed within her at the rumble of that deep and midnight voice. She slipped beneath the tree’s welcoming boughs as a familiar figure stepped out from behind the trunk, where he had been waiting.</p>
<p>‘Thorin. My heart.’ Her dwarf was smiling, warmth and love radiating from those bright, azure blue eyes. Thorin’s mane of dark hair was streaked with a little more silver these days, and a few more lines of care had threaded themselves delicately onto the dwarf’s skin. But to Ithilrian’s eyes, he was still just as beautiful as the day she’d met him. </p>
<p>‘Your heart,’ he rumbled, stepping close and reaching a hand towards her, resting it against her slender waist. ‘As you are mine, my queen.’ He chuckled as she bent down to kiss the top of his head.</p>
<p>'Hail, King Under the Mountain,’ she laughed softly, drawing him close. ‘What brings you to the orchard so early?’</p>
<p>A dawn appointment with the most beautiful woman on Middle Earth,’ he replied, mirth twinkling deep in those wonderful eyes. Ithilrian could not help but laugh with delight at the sight of him. Thorin had eschewed his heavy, kingly regalia, dressing instead in a simple blue tunic. Silver thread adorned the collar and cuffs, and at the base of his throat the Twilight Stone glittered in the light.</p>
<p>‘This is where you always come?’ he added, glancing around. ‘I have missed you these early mornings, Ithilrian. I wondered where you went.’ </p>
<p>‘My apologies, <i>a’maelamin,’</i> she replied. ‘You know that some nights, the weight of the mountain presses down on me, and I cannot sleep. In this place, I am… I do not know. Free is not the word for it. I simply watch the play of light upon the leaves, feel the wind in my hair again, and the sun on my skin, if only for a little time.’</p>
<p>Thorin bowed his head. ‘I am sorry,’ he began. ‘To keep you cooped up, under cold stone…’</p>
<p>‘Hush.’ Ithilrian touched a single finger to her husband’s lips. ‘Do not think on it. I told you, years ago, that I would stay with you, under the mountain, until the ending of my days. To that, I hold.’ She smiled, holding Thorin’s gaze as his blue eyes locked onto hers. ‘I do no regret one minute of it,’ she murmured. ‘Not one single second. This mountain is where you belong, Thorin Oakenshield. And my place is at your side.’ She glanced around her, at the beauty of the flowering trees. ‘Besides, who could be unhappy, with such loveliness on our very doorstep?’ she added. ‘Our kingdom thrives, Thorin. More than that: it blooms. I may spend my days underground, but it is the work of a moment to step into the light.’</p>
<p>Thorin nodded. ‘I know this. Still, I cannot help but worry, Ithilrian. Especially when you disappear without a word.’ He arched a brow at her. ‘You gave your guards the slip. Again.’</p>
<p>Ithilrian laughed, the sound rising among the trees. ‘And I have told you, that I need no guards clodding around behind me all the time. Did I not prove a capable warrior on our journey to Erebor? Did I not fight at your side in the great battle that followed?’</p>
<p>Thorin shook his head, half laughing, half serious. ‘Do not bring the memory of that final battle back into my mind, Ithilrian. I came a stone’s throw from losing you that day.’</p>
<p>‘But you did not.’ Ithilrian knelt before her husband, cupping his cheek with tender care. ‘And you never will, my heart. Come to me.’ Leaning in, she kissed him with gentle passion, running one and through his long fall of raven hair. Soft a silk it still was, despite the silver threading it. She felt him push closer to her, leaning into their embrace, and readily she wrapped her arms around him. <i>This is where I belong,</i> she thought to herself. <i>In this place, in his arms, beneath the sky and the gentle trees… who could be happier? What more bliss is there, than this?</i></p>
<p>And as she kissed him, the sky brightened overhead and the birds sang in the trees, and the minutes passed unnoticed beneath the apple blossoms. His lips against hers, the softness of his skin, the closeness of him and the long fall of his hair around her like a silken curtain was all that she needed.</p>
<p>Eventually, they broke apart, both pink-cheeked and breathless. Thorin was grinning from ear to ear, and Ithilrian could not help but match him.</p>
<p>‘We… should return to the mountain,’ he said, eventually. ‘We have duties. But… Ithilrian, my heart. I have adored this. Being here, with you.’ He shook his head, as though dizzy from the intensity of their embrace. ‘Please, may I ask… if we can do this again? Whether you would welcome me, on your morning walks?’</p>
<p>‘Oh, Thorin,’ Ithilrian laughed softly. ‘Of course, <i>veleth nîn.</i> Nothing would give me more joy. To walk beneath these trees with you, feel the wind, hear the birds singing…’ she paused, a flicker of mischief passing over her face before she stooped, plucking a fallen blossom and tucking it into the empty buttonhole on his tunic. ‘There,’ she said, smiling. ‘A promise.’</p>
<p>‘A promise,’ Thorin echoed, a look of wonder passing over his face. ‘Still, after all these years, you take my breath away.’ He adjusted the bloom, settling it more securely, before offering her his arm to walk back to the mountain.</p>
<p>As they strolled back through the Erebor valley, he wondered just how fate had seen fit to give him such a gift, such a wife; and vowed silently to do all in his power to keep her content, happy, and smiling in just the same manner she was now. For her beauty lit up the spring sky more brightly than the sun, and her gentle laughter was more music to his ears than any songbird in the world.</p>
<p>All the rest of the day, through hearings and negotiations and contract signings, he kept that little white flower safely in his buttonhole, glancing at it from time to time, until the evening, when he went down to the smithy. There he began to lay out a pattern to forge a small, silver blossom in its exact likeness: a promise in return, for his queen.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>An extra dose of Thorin/Ithilrian cuteness for anyone still invested in this pairing! Find more of the same on my Patreon page, www.patreon.com/Mossflower_17 if you want early access to new fics.</p>
<p>Love Mossie x</p></blockquote></div></div>
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